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Monday, April 16, 2018

BOOK REVIEW & SPOTLIGHT: Don't just travel to Cuba, experience Cuba like a local: The Ultimate Cuba Travel Guide By Talek Nantes


Don't just travel to Cuba, experience Cuba like a local: 
The Ultimate Cuba Travel Guide
By Talek Nantes
Genre: Nonfiction, Travel guide




Want to experience Cuba like a local? This is the guidebook for you. Talek Nantes, Cuban-American author and founder of the travel blog, TravelswithTalek.com, has traveled to Cuba numerous times. Her detailed explanations will guide you through all aspects of travel to Cuba and help you make the most of your time while in this unique and culturally fascinating country. 

Talek’s passion for Cuba is evident in every information-packed chapter from the classic Havana itineraries you cannot miss to the little-known gems pulsating under the radar in hidden Havana. Visit colonial military forts in Cuba’s eastern capital, Santiago de Cuba. Experience Cuba’s spectacular biospheres and animal preserves. Explore the French-influenced cities of central Cuba with their graceful architecture reminiscent of southern France. Sail the calm waters of underground rivers. Take salsa lessons, learn Spanish, cook a Cuban meal. It’s all here. 

Beyond a mere directory of attractions, this guidebook delves into the history of Cuba from the pre-colonial days through the present. Special focus is given to understanding Cuba’s fight for independence from Spain and the Cuban revolution of 1959 along with its key participants. 

This guidebook is packed with useful information, facts, and actionable tips:

  • Updated guidelines on travel to Cuba for U.S. citizens.
  • All you need to know about currency conversion.
  • How to locate and reserve the ideal accommodation in any city.
  • How to save money and travel comfortably anywhere within Cuba.
  • Where and what to eat in Cuba from street food to top cuisine. 
  • Highlights of the major Cuban cities from Havana to Santiago.
  • Walking maps of the key Havana neighborhoods. 
  • Directory of restaurants, galleries, attractions and music and dance venues in all key cities. 
  • Current scams and how to avoid them.
  • Budgeting for your Cuba trip
  • Over 60 full-color photographs 

In addition to key tips and advice, this guidebook provides cultural insight gleaned from conversations with local Cubans from the bici-taxi driver to the attendant at a cemetery gate. Explore places and topics tourists rarely see like religious Afro-Cuban dance performances, the hottest jazz clubs in Havana, remarkable art museums and stunning natural beauty. 

This extensive guidebook will save you time and money and help you truly experience Cuba like a local. 

My Review: 

The subtitle ‘The Ultimate Cuba Travel Guide’ is fitting for this travel guide. Inside, Cuban-American author, Talek Nantes, has blended her personal travel stories with some fascinating history, sensible information about traveling to Cuba, and how to heighten your adventure while in this beautiful country.


Don't just travel to Cuba, experience Cuba like a local is bursting with logical information as well as things you may not have considered. There are vivid images help you get excited about your trip and explain various signage and destination spots you may come across. You’ll want to pack this book with you since it contains material you’ll need to navigate Cuba … like a local!






About the Author


Talek Nantes is an author, travel consultant and founder of the travel blog, www.travelswithtalek.com. She is a passionate travel enthusiast and enjoys sharing her travel experiences with others. In her blog, Talek shares information on unique destinations and provides actionable travel tips and advice to help travelers make the most of their time away from home. Her focus is on cultural immersion and interaction with local people to help travelers create their own unique travel experiences. Her work has appeared in several publications. 

Talek’s personal and professional background have led her to travel to over 100 countries. She has lived and worked throughout the world and speaks several languages. Talek is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and lives with her husband in New York City and Miami.


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Friday, April 13, 2018

BOOK SPOTLIGHT & REVIEW: Freedom City By Philip Becnel

Freedom City
By Philip Becnel
Genre: Contemporary fiction


FREEDOM CITY is an anti-Trump satire that pays homage to The Monkey Wrench Gang.

After Donald Trump unceremoniously dies from natural causes, four misfits from Washington, D.C. who call themselves the Fearless Vampire Killers sever the heads of Confederate statues and wage a comedic guerrilla war on post-Trump America. When President Pence enlists droves of fascist volunteers to crush the “alt-left” uprising, the rebels must risk their lives to run the fascists out of D.C. 

What follows is not only a battle for survival—but a desperate search for remnants of what once made America great. 








My Review: 

I find myself writing this review after just removing myself permanently from the pages of facebook for the abject absurdity of their ‘policies and procedures’ so it is the perfect time for me to pen a critical analysis of this stunning novel. FREEDOM CITY is a bleak glance into a dystopian alter-america not far removed from this one, set in the very near future. Our HEROES, the Fearless Vampire Killers, are launched into a desperate last stand in a country lost in the mire of rampant nationalistic capitalism masking itself as ‘patriotism’, after the death of Trump and rise of the Pence presidency (shiver). The character development of each member of our dear Fearless Vampire Killers individually makes you love every hair on their revolutionary heads, and the melodic and hilarious flow of plot is entrancing! As a counter-point, the ‘bad guys’ fill the reader with animosity and dread, not unlike the cast of characters we find ourselves encountering on the daily now. Richly descriptive, blunt, poignant, funny, complex, beautifully textured, and brilliantly scripted. How many more adjectives can I throw at this fine novel? If you are a fan of suspense, crime noir, action-adventure, or highly literary fiction, then this is a book for you! On a personal note ~ As an active member of the ‘alt-left’ in this, OUR country, I am adding this novel to my small but powerful collection of books that I will keep until I perish. I will refer to it often, as a primer, or for inspiration. I sincerely hope our future does not parallel the scenario of this novel (well, maybe some of it, winking eye), but if it does, thank you so much, Mr. Becnel, for lighting the path. For action. As I write this, Woody Guthrie is on the radio singing ‘This land is your land’. Sometimes all is right with the universe. SIX STARS. 






About the Author

I was born in San Francisco and raised in Cotati, California, but I spent my formative years in New Orleans and then Northern Virginia. I now live in Washington, D.C., where I've been a private detective for almost twenty years. 
FREEDOM CITY, an anti-Trump satire about resistance to American fascism, is my debut novel, but some years ago I published two nonfiction books about investigating: Introduction to Conducting Private Investigations and Principles of Investigative Documentation. I've also published articles in a variety of legal and popular journals, including Time Magazine. 



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Excerpt (First paragraph): 

Despite the odium and widespread condemnation of Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America, he passed with all the fanfare of a fart in a mesh sack. Medical examiners said it was a thrombotic stroke, likely exacerbated by obesity and high blood pressure. Some said cocaine and opioids had been found in his system, but these reports were never confirmed. Trump was dead, and now it was time to start glossing over his dismal legacy and perpetuating his vision, posthumously, for Making America Great Again…